“Hey, hey, ho, ho, the padded cell has got to go!” “Show your kids that you care, buy your doughnuts elsewhere!” As the chants rang across the intersection, the bright signs trickled around the parking lot, each one signaling that something has to change.

Each side came out in full force — equipped with literature and treats, bullhorns and even an accordion — one side trying to raise awareness and spur change, the other defending a small business and its First Amendment rights.

The contentious debate over a corner doughnut shop reached a fever pitch last weekend as a newly formed mental health coalition took its fight to the doorsteps of Psycho Donuts.

On the mornings of May 16 and 17, about 50 protestors from Friends United to Seek Equality surrounded the shop on S. Winchester Boulevard, passing out fliers and garnering support from passersby. They asked them to honk, wave or just take a few moments to learn about the stigma they say the shop is promoting.

There were supporters of the shop, too, holding signs calling for freedom of speech.

The scene was a spectacle, with bullhorns blasting, crowds chanting and the sound of an accordion playing in the background, as both sides turned out for what has become the biggest controversy in the city of Campbell in quite some time.

“It’s been pretty ugly,” said Brian Miller, executive director of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

For the most part, the owners of Psycho Donuts were engaging the crowd as they stood in front of the shop, greeting customers and talking with both supporters and the opposition.

Co-owner Jordan Zweigoron, anticipating the scene over the weekend, even solicited an accordion player to come out.

“Well, if it’s going to be a circus … ” he said.

Co-owner Kip Berdianski took a more proactive approach to defending his shop. He spoke with Miller for the first time at the demonstration.

Each came out of the conversation with a different view of how to handle the situation. Miller said he would like to have a serious discussion with the owners of the shop, while Berdianski prefers to put the issue up to a public forum, perhaps through a radio show.

“We’re not here as a publicity stunt; we’re here because we have no choice,” Miller said.

Berdianski questioned the coalition’s intentions in going after a small business and not a bigger corporation, saying that there are “more offensive things to the average person than a doughnut with the name ‘Bipolar.’

“At the highest level, they have the First Amendment right to protest and we have the First Amendment right to make doughnuts,” Berdianski said. “We’re just a small-business owner that basically just wants to sell some doughnuts.”

Throughout most of the morning, protestors, supporters and customers of the shop were passing one another outside the shop’s entrance. In one instance, Campbell police responded to the scene, though no one was arrested.

Demonstrators, meanwhile, claimed that they’ve been the targets of intimidation tactics by Psycho Donuts supporters and that tensions have escalated to the point where they’re bordering on violence.

“We were successful in doing a nonviolent protest, which is what we are trying to do; we’re just trying to get out our opinion,” said Sarah Triano, executive director of the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center. “We’re going to persist in the face of this violent rhetoric.”

Passing traffic was higher than usual over the weekend, as revelers were gearing up for the Boogie on the Bayou festival in downtown Campbell. Triano said the coalition was successful in deterring at least five would-be customers from entering the shop.

“It’s not the doughnuts; it’s the stigma they’re perpetuating that all people with mental illness are violent,” Campbell resident Kathy Forward said. “They don’t understand the pain of what family members and people with mental illness go through.”

Still, public opinion continues to be mixed bag, with some customers feeling empathy yet continuing to buy doughnuts while others have their minds made up. The line was out the door at several points during the morning.

“It’s really made me want to come here even more because this is just silly to be protesting something when it’s just a theme,” said Wallace Washington, 20, of Campbell, describing the scene outside of the shop.

Likewise, local artist Christine Benjamin, whose artwork is displayed inside the shop, said the issue has “gotten out of hand.” “I think they need to spend their time getting funding for mental health research and things like that,” she said. “I don’t think this is going to make people take mental health issues seriously at all.”

The demonstrations may have created the biggest fireworks over the issue so far, but by no means were they the climax to the debate. As the demonstration drew to a close, protestors shouted, “We’ll be back!” as they turned the corner.

“Don’t underestimate us; we’re going to be out here every week making sure people understand us,” Miller said.

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